QUICK NEWS, 9-2: COOLING SOLAR POWER; COURT OKS CAPE WIND; SUNPOWER WINS 1000 SUN JOBS; MAINE TESTS TIDAL POWER

COOLING SOLAR POWER
CSP cooling options: Workarounds for water scarcity
27 August 2010 (CSP Today)

[Babul Patel, senior consultant, Nexant Inc.:] "When it comes to CSP planning, the biggest issue is the water resource, given that most CSP plants are located in arid areas. Permits and plans rely on access to and planned use of water…[It] can be a limiting factor…[A]lternatives for balance of plant and Rankine (steam) cycle cooling [are being tried]…With dry cooling an air-cooling condenser eliminates 90% of the water requirement…"

[Babul Patel, senior consultant, Nexant Inc.:] "The downside of air-cooled condensers is that on hot days [when the ambient air is too hot to cool the system], very poor performance…[lowers] the turbine’s efficiency and output during a period when you would expect it to be operating at highest efficiency…[Also,] the capital cost [for dry cooling] is [2.5 times ] higher than mechanical draft cooling towers [with water] but the operating cost is lower because you are not dealing with water - water treatment, and the discharge of waste water…"

click to enlarge

[Babul Patel, senior consultant, Nexant Inc.:] "The majority of that cost is the total cost of material…[and a CSP plant is] such a large surface area that there is no way to cut down the material cost…As we learn more about the layout and structure there are some cost savings, but these are miniscule compared to materials costs that are dependent on commodity prices."

[Babul Patel, senior consultant, Nexant Inc.:] "Engineers are looking at various [other] options. One is hybrid-cooling using a 25% capacity wet cooling tower and 100% capacity dry cooling…[T]he turbine steam exhaust is reverted to the wet cooling tower when ambient temperature rises…This option improves efficiency compared to a 100% dry cooling tower, and with little loss of capacity. The wet cooling tower is only used on hot days, so you would use only 10% of the water that would normally be required by a wet cooling tower…[It would be used] at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit / 32 degrees Celsius ambient temperature [about 40-60 days a year]…You still face the high capital cost outlay."

click to enlarge

[Babul Patel, senior consultant, Nexant Inc.:] "The Organic Rankine cycle [ORC] is another low temperature operating system using an organic compound which uses steam turbine exhaust to vaporize organic fluid that is used in another turbine cycle. It operates at lower temperature, but reduces the cooling load…as much as two-thirds…It’s a well-understood technology (it has been used in geo-thermal plants for years)…[Y]ou could piggyback the ORC on an existing system to increase the power generation of the plant and reduce the cooling requirement…[but] the return on investment is not attractive…[though] it is not [yet] clear as what the extra cost would be."

[Babul Patel, senior consultant, Nexant Inc.:] "Waste water is a viable option that is being looked at for several developments in California and Arizona…[where] the load centre and the CSP resource are in close proximity. In North Africa, on the other hand, most proposed sites are 50-100 miles from the coastal region, but most of the population is located near the coast…[Where there is] access to municipal water…costs are manageable…In the southwest US people are waking up to the fact that water is a very valuable resource…It is getting increasingly difficult to extract ground water for CSP…Most power plants are tending toward zero water discharge, where they have to treat and re-use water, which adds up to a significant capital and operating costs…[A] lot of new conventional (combined cycle and coal) plants [are being] permitted with zero liquid (water) discharge or ZLD…"


COURT OKS CAPE WIND
SJC gives Cape Wind go-ahead to start construction
Beth Daley, August 31, 2010 (Boston Globe)

"A divided [Massachusetts] Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-2…that the state has the power to overrule community opposition and grant the controversial Cape Wind project a suite of local permits it needs to start construction.

"The long-awaited decision comes as the project developers enter the homestretch to build 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound within the year. If the court had sided with opponents of the project, it could have held up the project indefinitely or killed it outright because many permits have to come from communities or agencies that oppose the project…Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall and Justice Francis X. Spina voted against approving the permitting process…[but] concurred with other parts of the ruling."

click to enlarge

"While the wind farm will be built in federal waters, beyond the reach of most state and local agency decisions, a transmission line will cross state waters and interconnect on land, giving various governments [including the Cape Cod Commission] authority to review pieces of the project…"

click to enlarge

"The commission denied the project a permit in 2007, saying it did not have enough information to make a decision. Cape Wind immediately appealed to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board, created more than 35 years ago in part to evaluate energy projects that may be unreasonably held up or burdened by local permitting processes.

"Raising the temperature of the already heated debate, Cape Wind asked not only for the board to overrule the Cape Cod Commission but for all nine local approvals to be evaluated as one by the board…The board, headed by Ian Bowles, the state secretary for Energy and Environmental Affairs, agreed and issued one "superpermit.'' The main opposition group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, [and] the Cape Cod Commission [file the now-decided appeal]…"


SUNPOWER WINS 1000 SUN JOBS
SunPower Solar Technology Selected for Multiple U.S. Federal Government Facilities
August 30, 2010 (PR Newswire)

"SunPower Corp…has been selected [to do] installation at several U.S. government properties, including for the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), the General Services Administration (GSA), the Navy and the Air Force. SunPower expects to create more than 1000 local jobs during the construction of these projects. These contracts represent a minimum of 20 megawatts (MW) of new solar projects for SunPower…

"SunPower was selected by NREL to design and construct a 2-megawatt solar power system at the Department of Energy's new Research Support Facility on the NREL campus in Golden, Colo. The project will be installed at three sites, including a new ultra-low energy office complex, an outdoor parking area, and a parking garage…This project is being financed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, and is expected to be complete by the end of 2011.

Flash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chart
Click here to download Flash Player now

View the full SPWRA chart at Wikinvest

"The General Services Administration (GSA)…[will use] SunPower solar technology for the 1.8-MW solar system that is under construction at the General Emmett Bean Federal Building in Indianapolis, Ind. The project uses the SunPower T5 Solar Roof Tile system, which integrates a high-efficiency solar panel, frame and roof-mounting system into a single pre-engineered unit. The T5 Solar Roof Tiles position the solar panels at a 5-degree tilt, for greatest energy production. Scheduled for completion in January 2011, the system will be the largest rooftop solar power system on a GSA facility. This project is being financed through ARRA."

The SunPower tracking system (click to enlarge)

"SunPower was one of five solar providers…[selected] by Naval Facilities Command to deliver solar power systems to Navy and Marine Corps installations throughout the southwestern United States…SunPower will design, build, operate and maintain the systems, and sell the power to the Navy and Marine Corps under power purchase agreements. Projects may range in size from one to 15 MW. The Navy will have up to five years to award up to 40 MW of solar projects under this $200 million contract.

"…SunPower…[contracted] with Arizona Public Service (APS) to design and construct a 15-MWac solar photovoltaic power system at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona. The system will use SunPower solar panels with the SunPower Tracker® system, which follows the sun's movement during the day, increasing sunlight capture by up to 25 percent…Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2011, it is expected to be the largest solar power installation at a U.S. government facility and generate the equivalent of 50 percent of the annual energy requirements for Luke Air Force Base."


MAINE TESTS TIDAL POWER
Ocean Renewable Power Tests Tidal Power System in Maine
August 20, 2010 (Sustainable Business via Reuters)

"…[The Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC)] Beta Power System has successfully generated grid-compatible power from tidal currents at its Cobscook Bay site in Eastport, Maine…ORPC says the device is the largest ocean energy "power plant" ever installed in U.S. waters.

"The system's core component, the proprietary Turbine Generator Unit, or TGU, is deployed below ORPC's research and testing vessel and has a maximum design capacity of 60 kilowatts. Performance test results show that the TGU's electrical output meets or exceeds expectations for the full range of current velocities…[T]he Beta Power System data…[will be used in] the design of its commercial TidGen Power System, planned for installation in Eastport in late 2011…The TidGen Power System will be connected to the New England grid…and will generate enough electricity to power 50 to 75 homes…"

click to enlarge

"Tidal energy has the potential to be a billion dollar industry in Maine within the next seven to ten years, creating hundreds of jobs. The bodies of water around Eastport have some of the most robust tidal currents in the world.

"ORPC's Beta Power System incorporates several technological innovations…[including] the TGU's proprietary advanced design cross-flow turbines, engineered with 100 percent composite materials, its permanent magnet generator, a substantially composite support frame, and a power electronics system that converts the generator's variable output to grid-compatible power…Through [their] three-year partnership…UMaine and ORPC [will be able] to better understand and help minimize any potential interaction between ORPC's technology and marine life…"

From oceanrenewablepower via YouTube

"Over the next two months, ORPC will also be demonstrating how tidal energy can be delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard for use at its Eastport station through a battery electrical supply system that is charged aboard the Energy Tide 2. This is the first application of tidal energy by a federal agency.

"ORPC holds FERC preliminary permits and is in the process of obtaining FERC pilot project licenses for tidal energy sites in Maine and Alaska, which have been designated world-class tidal resources by the World Energy Congress. ORPC's work is funded in part by Maine Technology Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy."